Grave Things
by Beliel
Summary: Wufei pays his respects to the dead. Post Series and EW, rather sweet. Comments welcome.


Grave things  
  
A Wufei Reflection Fic by Liz M.  
  
The young man was in his late teens, nineteen, to be precise, and he was usually quite precise. He was short, barely 5'4", and of Chinese decent. Black haired and black eyed, with caramel colored skin and handsome features. He was well-groomed, long hair tied neatly back in a pony-tail, clothes spotless and clean pressed. He wore a silk robe and loose pants, both pure white, the traditional color of mourning. Simple slippers adorned his feet, and he carried a basket slung over one arm. His name was Chang Wufei, though the name had suffered such indignities as 'Wuffee, Waffles, WuWu and Fei-chan' among other things.  
  
He was currently walking up a hill, his destination a small, elegant stone marker that stood alone and serene amid the tall green grass. Upon reaching the grave, the man set his basket down, bowing to the stone formally for a moment, before rummaging through the various items in his basket.  
  
Settling a blanket in front of the stone tablet, Wufei proceeded to remove incense, a small bowl of rice, and a folded piece of paper. Placing all these before the grave, he lit the incense and sat back on his blanket, head bowed a moment in prayer and respect as the incense burned.  
  
When he felt the proper amount of time had passed, the man placed two chopsticks in the rice, an offering for the dead, and set a rose next to the rice bowl. He then picked up the folded piece of paper and very carefully, very solemnly, took a match to it, watching as it burned. Ritual finally completed, Wufei allowed himself a bit of a grin, and quickly drew out two cut crystal goblets and a bottle of fine red wine, pouring two glasses and setting one with the other offerings in front of the grave.  
  
Clinking his glass of wine gently against the one offered to the dead, he raised his cup in a silent salute, than took a sip, relaxing into a more comfortable sitting position then the traditional crouch on his knees.  
  
"I hope you liked the letter." Wufei's voice was quiet, but... Calm. Bordering on content. "Mariemaia nearly made me swear in blood that I'd deliver it. Une's been taking good care of her. She's going to be a fine woman one day. Fine enough even to make you proud, you old bastard." There was no heat in the words, just mild amusement as the ex-pilot took another sip of the wine.  
  
"The wine is from Zechs. He insisted you'd only appreciate the finest. He and Noin are getting along quite well by the way; it's only a matter of time before they get married."  
  
Wufei fell silent for several minutes, watching the incense burn, contemplating the strange twists of life. "I visited Meirin's memorial yesterday. I imagine she's forgiven you by now, despite her stubborn nature. That's one name you can let go of." His words were soft, and followed by another long silence, one filled with memory and pain and forgiveness.  
  
"Relena's doing a remarkably good job. I hadn't thought it possible... But you were right. People are ready for peace. Most of them anyway. Une's job with the Preventers is an unfortunate necessity, but one I am proud to be a part of." He leaned back, a small, genuine smile teasing the edges of his stern face, softening his features and making him younger by years.  
  
"I still think you were a selfish idiot, but I forgive you. Your loss, in the end. You never got to witness the world you helped shape." He took another sip of wine, relaxing his head back and closing his eyes, smile still hovering over his features. "Everyone's doing pretty well, truth be told. Sally has her own clinic; Une and Noin of course run Preventers... Quatre's one of Relena's biggest supporters, and is doing quite well for himself, for that matter. Trowa's still getting up the nerve to tell blondie how he feels, and I'm probably going to go brow-beat him a bit this evening. He's in town. Heero... Heh. Well, lets just say Yuy's fine. And Duo is actually going to school of all things. To study art. ... Yeah, it blew me away too. But he always was full of surprises.  
  
"Me? Well... Me. I still talk to ghosts." The smile turned into a grin. "And I'm still known as a stubborn, stern asshole, so don't you go blabbing about our little chat." His expression slowly faded into something more serious. "A few remnants of my clan have gathered. Une's going to have kittens when I tell her I'll only be working part time while I help the survivors. Even so... She's mellowed a lot. At least on the outside. I, for one, would not like to cross that woman. And I think she misses you; more then Zechs or I or even Mai... Mariemaia." The man looked down at his half empty glass, silent again for nearly an hour.  
  
"... Life's not perfect. But we are all doing well. In a few more decades, the wars will be mostly forgotten except by us few who lived through the worst of them, and then, hopefully, we'll be getting old and senile and forgetting them anyway. And by then... I think total pacifism will be too widely accepted to beat down again. I'm glad there won't be more death, but I'm still not sure what I think of the idea, anyway." Sighing, the Chinese youth straightened, than stood.  
  
"I promised Trowa I'd meet him this afternoon, we're going to catch up on old times, and then I'm going to brow-beat him into growing a spine already. The man can devastate armies and stare death in the face without a blink, but the moment you mention emotions he flinches like a woman. It's embarrassing, really." He set the mostly full bottle of wine next to the glass in front of the gravestone. "Here, you can keep the rest. I really have no taste of the stuff." Folding the blanket and stuffing it neatly back into the bag, he stood a moment before the marker.  
  
"Once... A long time ago, when we were both lonely and needed to talk... You told me that, if circumstances were different, you'd be honored to have my friendship. Well... You'd better wait for me before you reincarnate, Treize, because I intend to be friends, next time around. I've had enough of enemies for all my lifetimes." Lips quirked a little at his own wistful comments, Wufei bowed formally to the grave marker, and started the slow, steady walk back down the hill, and to the world of the living. 


End file.
